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Monday, May 7, 2012

Devils right wing Dainius Zubrus said he felt fine after tonight’s 4-2 win over the Flyers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at Prudential Center.

Zubrus scored the go-ahead goal with 2:13 left in the second period, shook off a late hit to the head for Claude Giroux 3.6 seconds left in the period and came back on the third to score the clinching empty-net goal with 44.4 seconds remaining.

“I think we had a lot of chances to score in the second.,” Zubrus said. “We got in on the forecheck good. I think we have four lines that can push the pace and get some pucks back on the forecheck and that’s how our goal. My first goal was off the forecheck and I think we created a lot of chances that way. I think there’s a lot of guys that could have scored, but I was lucky enough to do it a couple times.”

Zubrus said Giroux hit him in the right side of the head. It appeared Giroux’s right shoulder made the contact as he caught Zubrus leaning forward and the puck not in the play.

“He surprised me,” Zubrus said. “I don’t think the puck was that near, so I was just trying to get in on the forecheck. He decided to play me. I had a similar hit earlier in the year where I felt the point of contact was in the head and it was a similar thing where he didn’t get me in the jaw or anything, didn’t knock me out, but I still needed a few seconds for sure just to kind of get back to it and get my feet back under me.

“Then, I went to the room. It was the end of the period, so I had plenty of (time) to recover and get looked at by the doctors and I felt fine.”

Giroux appeared angry over the officials not calling Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur for playing the puck outside the trapezoid. He claimed that he was not trying to hit Zubrus in the head.

"I was just trying to finish my hit and he kind of leaned in and kind of tried to chip the puck in," Giroux said. "I didn’t see the replay, so I don’t know. Obviously I’m not a dirty player. I don’t want to hit guys on the head. I was just trying to finish my hit there.

Zubrus said he didn’t feel great initially, but recovered quickly.

“At first, you’re not sure because you get hit and you’re kind of just not sure because it’s a weird feeling,” he said. “But five, 10 seconds later I was kind of back into it and I went to the locker room. I’ve been knocked out before in my life and that wasn’t it.”

Devils coach Pete DeBoer believes it is a hit the NHL’s Department of Player Safety need to look at. (The review process has already begun.)

“For me, it looks like textbook like the kind of hits we’re trying to get out of the game,” DeBoer said. “I understand (commissioner) Gary Bettman and (deputy commissioner) Bill Daly were here tonight. I’m sure they’ll look at that.”

Giroux received a two-minute minor for an illegal check to the head.

When asked if he thought Giroux should be suspended, DeBoer replied, “That’s for people to make decisions above me.”

Zubrus did not want to comment on whether he thought the hit was dirty.

“It’s the playoffs. They try to hit us. We try to hit them,” Zubrus said. “There’s plenty of hits that I guess you can say are questionable. I think he got a penalty. In my opinion, I think it was deserved and that’s about it.”

That Zubrus came back and played in the game and Giroux’s lack of a track record for supplemental discipline will no doubt play into whatever decision NHL senior VP Brendan Shanahan makes.

Giroux didn't sound worried about being fined or suspended.

"I think I should be fine," Giroux said. He was leaning in, same time. (Anton) Volchenkov also hit (Wayne) Simmonds in the face with an elbow. If they look at mine they should probably look at that one too.

About

TOM GULITTI has covered the New Jersey Devils for The Record since 2002. Prior to that, he covered the New York Rangers for four years. Gulitti joined The Record in 1998 after six years at The North Jersey Herald News. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric-Literature.